The Westport Library Presents
Meadowmount School of Music In Concert
Featuring 2024 Gurrena Fellow Kento Hong (Violin)
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
7:00 PM
FREE
$20 suggested donation to support the library

Japanese-Taiwanese American violinist Kento Hong has drawn critical attention and won numerous awards, including the 2021 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition (4th prize), 2022 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition (6th prize and audience prize), and the 2024 Arthur Grumiaux Competition (3rd prize). He has also won first prizes in other competitions,including the Chicago International Violin Competition, the Camerata Artists International Competition, and the Chappaqua Orchestra Concerto Competition.Kento has performed at major venues, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, sharing the stage with renowned artists like Maxim Vengerov and Jaime Laredo. Kento was selected as an active finalist participant in the Kronberg Academy Masterclass 2023 and has been a guest artist on NPR’s From The Top. In the Fall of 2024, he received the $50,000 Gurrena Fellowship career grant from the Meadowmount School of Music.

Program to include works by:

• Kreisler, Syncopation
• Bach, Sonata No. 2 (III. Andante)
• Amy Beach, Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23
• Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Blue/s Forms (III. Jettin’ Blue/s)
• Intermission
• R. Strauss, Violin Sonata, Op. 18
• Hübay, Carmen Fantasie Brillante for Violin and Piano
• Nelson Padgett, piano

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Kento Hong, violin

Kento is also a 2024 National Young Arts Finalist and a frequent concertmaster of Juilliard’s leading Pre-college ensembles. Beyond music, Kento is passionate about arthritis research, having won 2nd prize at the Regeneron ISEF in Biomedical Engineering and several other science awards. He often explores the connection between science and art in his public communications. Kento Hong was born in New York in 2006 and began violin studies at age 6 under Aimee Kreston.

Gurrena Fellowship

The Gurrena Fellowship was created in 2022 in memory of David A. Barnebl, an educated, passionate music lover, by his wife, Linda Gurrena Barnebl, of Shelburne, VT. The purpose of the Fellowship is to support and encourage exceptionally talented students to become abundantly successful in their professional journey.

This generous fellowship enables its recipients to continue to pursue their careers with vigor and passion without the burden of financial constraint. During the Fellowship year, the recipient receives financial support and mentorship, featured concert engagements supported by Meadowmount School of Music, and continued collaborations and training with the Meadowmount faculty for the upcoming year and 2025 summer session.